The Locker Room of the Dead

A play in search of a venue...

THE LOCKER ROOM OF THE DEAD

A play by children

c Ann Diamond 2024

The copyright owner retains all exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, display, and perform the work. Any unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of this work, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without the written permission of the copyright owner.

CHARACTERS:

REMOTE VIEWING TEAM:

• Carlos

• Harley

• Sylvie

• Stanley

• Ruth

CHILDREN:

• Jimmy age 12, wearing a hospital Johnny shirt, no pants, little white socks

• Eric, 7 years old

• Cindy, 11 years old

• Isabel, 14 years old

• Esther, Isabel’s friend

• Billy, 12 Isabels crush

NOT SEEN:

• Tommy, Indian boy

• Brian

• Sandy

A TEAM OF FIVE DOCTORS IN UNIFORMS AND WHITE COATS

The Scene opens in a darkened Theater in the round.

LIGHTS COME UP ON FIVE REMOTE VIEWERS SEATED ON CHAIRS IN A SEMI CIRCLE. THE ONE IN THE CENTRE IS HARLEY.

HARLEY: So now we’re just about to begin. What we’re about to do is explore the universe around us. And as most of you know, every time we do one of these meditations, we’re never sure what will come up. That’s why we keep the work we’re doing within the realm of the White Light. So let’s start. Breathe deeply. We’re going on a journey to a world where time as we know it doesn’t exist.

Take three deep breaths, and when you get to the bridge, I’ll see you on the other side

One... Two... Three...

A door opens, shuts. Enter JIMMY, aged about 12, wearing a hospital Johnny shirt, no pants, little white socks.

JIMMY (RECITING): There once was a doctor from Stirling

Came to Canada not for the curling

His portable shocker

That he kept in a locker

Had rows of bright buttons for twirling

JIMMY sneaks up behind Carlos, taps him on the shoulder, and motions him to follow. CARLOS exits behind little boy.

HARLEY: What do you feel?

SYLVIE: Hot.

HARLEY: Why do you feel hot?

SYLVIE: There’s fire.

HARLEY: Describe that fire.

SYLVIE: It’s like the flames of, when you want to burn the bodies of people, it’s like an oven and ...

It feels like someone is trying to see how much heat the body could handle.

HARLEY: Can you see anybody around you?

SYLVIE: Two men. In white, like doctors. One has salt and pepper hair. He’s really thin. The other is tall with small glasses and not much hair...

HARLEY: Did anyone else see these two men?

STANLEY: I was in some kind of laboratory looking at a glass container, and there were people in lab coats standing around it, and I saw a little girl in the container.

RUTH: I also saw a kind of glass playpen with a child in it. I get the year 1955 and I see crocuses outside…

HARLEY : Which means it would be spring.

SYLVIE: There’s something with animals,

CARLOS: I saw a black dog ..

SYLVIE: All kinds of different animals, like a chicken, and a small dog and they were training them to do things…

CHILD’S VOICE (CINDY): One two Buckle my shoe Three four Shut the door

CARLOS: I felt a tap on my right shoulder and there was a little boy there, blond, wearing a tunic, no pants, little socks, and he said Shh, be quiet, he put his finger to his nose and he told me to be quiet and follow him, I followed him through a hall way and he said “slow down.” He crouched down, and there were two men, in military uniforms, in wool, and we crouched down and I didn’t realize right away, he was taking me on a tour and we went down some hallway into an atrium and there was a room with beds and there were red metal fire trucks and children were playing on the floor and I smelled vanilla.

Then we went down another hallway and I saw a guard and then through into another room and there was a little girl, very gaunt with dark circles under her eyes and she was strapped down on a bed and was in very bad shape and the little boy was pointing showing me, look that’s what they do here

CHILD’S VOICE: Three, four… shut the door

RUTH: Another girl was nearby in a chair, strapped in. And there was something going on with her left hand, it was kind of numb, I also feel a lot of pressure and around my head and my ears like a helmet, and

HARLEY: Can anyone else see the chair?

SYLVIE: Yes. She’s been sitting there a long time.

RUTH: I feel the numbness up the arm...

HARLEY: So the chair you’re seeing is not an instrument of torture but ...

RUTH: they had something on her hand or her fingers and electricity going up her arm, and there was a belt around her, but it was wet, around her waist, and but it seemed it was wet, there was water, and the strap was made from leather. I got the name Isabel.

******

Lights come up on girl in chair with electrodes attached to her hair like Medusa's snakes. This is Isabel. Lights go out.

Enter ERIC

ERIC: You know, we were separated into groups. There was the boys, and the girls. And then there was a whole bunch of Indian children that were there as well. But they weren't allowed to be with us. I used to talk to them. We worked out a code where, almost like playing with drums, we were able to talk and once in a while Tommy and I would meet because we would arrange a meeting, and we'd study the code and make it better so that we could talk better. And they told me a lot of what was going on. And some of them were older than the rest of us and they told me there was a special ceme... cemetery... that's where they bury people? And the Indians called it sacred land. And they buried... and they marked them all the same. With little stones.

SYLVIE: Did you ever go there?

ERIC: No. We climbed the wall. There's a gate in the wall. And just beyond there, there's a flat spot, and there's seventeen, seventeen bodies there.

SYLVIE: And all were children?

ERIC: But later on other things started to happen. So maybe there's more, I don't know.

But I think Cindy is there. You have to find Cindy.

SYLVIE: Is it in Montreal or in the country?

ERIC: It's in Montreal. And you know, we heard the buzz and it kept us up at night. And some of us thought that it was machinery in the building, but it wasn't. It was coming from beyond the wall. And the Indians said that it was the souls of those who were buried there.

But I didn't believe that, because there was a glow. And a glow comes because of a change in energy.

They could do anything they wanted to do. They could feed us, or not feed us. Sometimes they'd overstuff us, and other times they wouldn't let us have anything. And everything was measured. Measured and weighed. Sometimes it'd taste good and sometimes it didn't. And whenever they gave me the candy...

STANLEY: What kind of candy?

ERIC: I put it in my pocket. Like Brian told me to do. Because he knew what was in that candy.

STANLEY: Brian was there with you?

ERIC: Brian came on weekends. He lived in a group home.

He was older. Fifteen.And one day a reporter from the Montreal Star came and took him out to a tavern.

He said he would tell his editor, and three articles would appear, and then the whole world everybody would know. And we’d get out of here. We’d be free.

Brian went away. He didn't come back. We don't know what happened to Brian.

Then the reporter ran away. He ran to another city and went into radio…

A BROADCASTER WITH EARPHONES

MUSIC: Dean Martin’s voice singing “Memories are made of this”

ERIC: We gotta find Cindy. We have to find her. We have to find her. Otherwise she won't move. She's gonna stay where she is and she shouldn't be there.

RUTH: How old were you then?

ERIC: Seven.

RUTH: And there was a big, big wall?

ERIC: I know.

STANLEY: Just a wall with a gate.

ERIC: A gate.

RUTH: At seven any wall would be very big.

ERIC: But it wasn't far. We could see them when they were digging back there.

STANLEY: You could see them from the hospital?

(LIGHTS COME UP. THREE MEN WITH FLASHLIGHTS AND SHOVELS ARE DIGGING)

ERIC: From the windows. They didn't know we were looking. ‘Cause when you’re looking out from the basement you can just see, just above the ground.

SYLVIE: Do you remember what the cemetery is called?

ERIC: Never got to see it. Just from what the Indians told me about sacred ground.

STANLEY: Did you say it was an Indian cemetery?

ERIC: I said the Indians knew about it.

HARLEY: It doesn't necessarily mean that only Indians were buried there…

(ENTER DOCTORS IN WHITE COATS WITH STETHOSCOPES AND CLIPBOARD)

ERIC:They talked a lot about Aptitude. Reasoning. Mind Control. And Memory. Memorizing. Long, long pages. Reciting back. And being told to start over, and over, and over again until we got it right. But nobody would help us, if we were missing a word. And I was really good at this. This was what they took me to do, to sit and read for hours and hours and hours and then to recite it all back.

RUTH: How old was Cindy?

ERIC: Cindy's about eleven.

RUTH: Quite a bit older than you!

ERIC: Yeah, but we were close. We were really close.

RUTH: That's nice.

ERIC: She was my girlfriend.

SYLVIE: Did you pass away when you were seven years old?

(No answer. HEAVY BREATHING)

RUTH: Did you have a brother or sister with you?

ERIC: (Heavy breathing...) I don't remember. I was in there since I was four years old.

STANLEY: Do you remember your parents?

ERIC: I remember my mother. She used to hold me in her arms. She smelled really good.

RUTH: Is your mother still alive?

ERIC: (shakes his head)

RUTH: So have you .. seen your mother lately?

ERIC: (nods)

RUTH: Maybe she can help you find Cindy.

ERIC: She did. She told me to come back here and talk to you. She said to go and tell you that I had to find Cindy.

STANLEY: If we knew where you were, maybe we could find her. Do you remember the name of the place?

ERIC: No.

SYLVIE: It was a big place.

ERIC: When you're seven years old, like the lady said, everything's big.

STANLEY: Were you on flat ground there?

ERIC: The floors were flat, but everything else...

SYLVIE: When you looked out the window, what did you see?

ERIC: There was a mountain on one side. That's the only side we could see.

SYLVIE: Was it on the left or the right when you were looking out?

ERIC: Straight ahead.

RUTH: Was there a cross?

ERIC: I don't remember. We had a little compound that we were allowed to use, but we couldn't see much because it was all enclosed. We weren't allowed outside. The last time I was outside, was when I came there, in a big black car.

RUTH: When you were four.

ERIC: Yeah.

RUTH: And they never let you out in the woods... or out for walks.

ERIC: (shakes his head)

SYLVIE: Do you remember what year that was?

ERIC: (no answer)

RUTH: No... doesn't know...

STANLEY: Did Cindy have a last name?

ERIC: Seaford.

STANLEY: S-E-A-F-O-R-D -- is that how you --

ERIC: I was good in reading but not that good in spelling.0

SYLVIE: Did you speak English?

ERIC: There weren't too many people who didn't speak English there, except the Indians. They spoke something else but they spoke English too.

SYLVIE: No French people?

ERIC: Not that I remember. Because most of the doctors spoke English.

STANLEY: But if you could see the cemetery from the window, then it should be on the grounds of the hospital. We could go there, and try to bring you back to us during the summer, and...

ERIC: No time. No time. No time. No time.

RUTH: Why do you say that?

ERIC: Gotta find Cindy.

RUTH: I'm trying to think how we can help you find Cindy. And the only thing I can think of is maybe if we all close our eyes, and try and get Cindy to come here? Do you think she would come here, if we all try to...

STANLEY: Is there anyone in the spirit world that could come and help us to find where?

ERIC: Lots of spirit here. And it's quiet tonight. There's nothing that's scaring me. I feel comfortable.

SYLVIE: Is there anyone who could tell us where?

ERIC: Nobody knew what they were doing, so nobody could say that they couldn't. Do you understand? Nobody could say that they couldn't do what they were doing because nobody knew what they were doing. They could do whatever they wanted. And they did whatever they wanted. So they could take...Cindy... and put her where they wanted. And we have to find Cindy.

SYLVIE: We have to find the place where she is now.

ERIC: Yeah. Try and get her to come here.

SYLVIE: That's what we have to do.

RUTH: Eric?

ERIC: Yes.

RUTH: We're gonna all close our eyes and we're gonna think of Cindy.

LIGHTS OUT ON ERIC. GROUP STARTS TO BREATHE HEAVILY. LIGHTS UP ON CINDY.

AT FIRST SHE IS SILENT, ABSORBED IN SOME KIND OF ACTIVITY OR GAME: SHE KEEPS MAKING SCOOPING MOVEMENTS ON THE FLOOR WITH ONE HAND.

CINDY: One, two. Buckle my shoe.

RUTH: Is someone else here now?

CINDY (in a small voice) Nine... ten... (scoops another handful of something invisible)

RUTH: Oh, dice. You're playing dice.

CINDY: (scoops another handful)

STANLEY: Is that dice? No? Jacks?

CINDY: Where's the ball? Where's the ball?

STANLEY: Is that Jacks?

CINDY: Jack's not here.

SYLVIE: Is that Cindy? Are you Cindy?

CINDY: Cindy.

RUTH: Cindy Seaford.

CINDY: Cindy.

SYLVIE: You're Cindy.

CINDY: I'm Cindy.

RUTH: Cindy, Eric's been looking for you.

CINDY: That light's strong! (CRINGES, COVERS HER EYES)

SYLVIE: We're gonna lower the light a little bit. Okay? Still with us Cindy?

CINDY: (nods)

RUTH: We're happy to see you here. Eric's been looking for you and he's here too.

CINDY: But if you shine the light on him, he's gonna go away and we can't get back...

STANLEY: The light's off. We covered it. It's because the light was just behind me and I moved.

CINDY: But there's always light behind people.

STANLEY: Really...

CINDY: Always light behind the people. And when they move, it shines right in your eyes. And there’s: (MAKES A CLICKING SOUND WITH HER MOUTH

RUTH: Is that typing?

CINDY: No! They have this, this, this, this... eye. And it's making this tss tss tss

STANLEY: The eye makes noise?

CINDY: The box!

SYLVIE: The box for electricity?

CINDY: Tss tss tss.

RUTH: What would they look at with that eye? At you?

CINDY: It was a kind of box, with just one... I heard someone call it something once. A cam....

RUTH: Camera. A big eye... So Cindy, where are you, because Eric's looking all over for you.

CINDY: I'm here...

STANLEY: Cindy, where have you been? Have you been to the light?

CINDY: I'm not allowed to go to the light.

RUTH: Yes you are! Everybody's waiting for you. Eric is there. Your parents are out there, in the light, waiting for you.

CINDY: Ah, but there will be other people.

RUTH: So bring them with you to the light.

CINDY: I don't want to be with the other people.

SYLVIE: Why? Those people aren't there anymore. They can't hurt you.

CINDY: They did.

SYLVIE: It's not the same kind of light. It's God’s light that you can see, even from where you are.

CINDY: What's God?

STANLEY: God is the light. God is love.

CINDY: And you want me to...

STANLEY: Go towards love.

CINDY: In the middle of the night?

SYLVIE: And, uh, if you're in the night, yes.

CINDY: I don't know if you understood me but let me explain it to you again. I got a problem with light.

SYLVIE: Why?

CINDY: Cause light hurts. When you're kept in the dark and they go and they turn on the light, it hurts. And it usually means that something you don't like is coming.

STANLEY: Something you don't like is going to happen?

CINDY: Yeah! They go like this, and they look, and they look. And they say keep your eyes open, and they come back, and they look, and they look, and they look.

SYLVIE: That's bad. But Cindy, that can't happen anymore. They were ignorant people.

CINDY: But it happened before. With scientists and doctors.

RUTH: That was a mistake.

CINDY GOES BACK TO PLAYING JACKS AND IGNORES THE VISITORS.

CINDY: Seven, eight. Lay them straight.

Nine ten, do it again

RUTH: Cindy, do you believe in angels? There's angels waiting for you. And you have friends waiting for you over there, and if you go with your friends... because your body is all energy... and you're a(etc etc)

CINDY: Can I tell you something? I know you're a nice lady. But did you know that you talk a lot like them?

SYLVIE: I think we're using too much adult language.

STANLEY: Cindy, do you want to go play with other children?

CINDY: Why? Have you got children I could play with?

STANLEY: Plenty of children. Do you want to play something?

CINDY: What do you wanna play?

CARLOS: You're trying to push her towards the light but she doesn't want to go. She wants to talk.

STANLEY: I'd like you to be happy.

CINDY: How do you play happy?

RUTH: Good question!

CINDY: I'm not usually allowed to ask questions so I'm gonna take advantage.

STANLEY: Why don't we play a game, and you can walk toward the light because you're friends are all in the light. But you won't see the light because you'll cover your eyes... Does that sound fun? Because they're all waiting for you...

CINDY: You want me to walk from the dark, to the light..

STANLEY: To the light, wearing these sunglasses and covering your eyes. (OFFERS CINDY SUNGLASSES)

CINDY: But the light isn't really there.

RUTH: Can you see the light?

CINDY: If there's light then I don't open my eyes. All right? Do we agree on that? I'm not gonna go through this again. You can't make me go through it again.

STANLEY: Okay.

(CINDY BOUNCES THE BALL.)

CINDY: Seven… eight. There's a light behind you.

RUTH: A candle.

CINDY: Like on a birthday cake?

STANLEY: what's a candle without a birthday cake?

CINDY: (BOUNCING) Nine, ten…There should be eleven candles.

STANLEY: The light is love.

CINDY: What's love?

SYLVIE: It's that warm feeling you get when you're with people you like. Not with the people you don't like. It's that warm funny feeling…

CINDY: (inaudible, sounds like:) Are you conning me?

ALL: No, no. No!

SYLVIE: What were you playing when you arrived?

CINDY: Jacks. You go one at a time, and when you get all nine, then you go two at a time. And when you get all nine, you go... well you can't really go two at a time cause when you go two plus two plus two plus two... the last is one... so some people take three, so you go one, two, three... and then you try and grab the ball and you can only bounce the ball so high and they showed me this, they called it "EYE MUSCLE COORDINATION"

CINDY BOUNCES HER BALL.

CARLOS: Will you tell us where you are buried?

CINDY: Row three.

CARLOS: In the Indian section of the cemetery?

CINDY: I'm not sure.

RUTH: Behind a big wall?

CINDY: I watched the men carry me out.

(CHANTS) Seven, Eight…Lay them Straight (COUGHS.)

RUTH: Don't you want to see your friends, Eric and Brian and...

CINDY: I'm not gonna kiss Eric!

RUTH: No, no. You don't have to kiss Eric.

CINDY: Because Brian keeps saying that we should kiss. And then Sandy gets mad.

STANLEY: Oh, he likes you too?

CINDY: Sandy's a girl.

STANLEY: Is she your best friend?

CINDY: No, she doesn't like me.

RUTH: She's jealous.

CINDY: She says I'm too old for Eric, that I should leave him for her.

SYLVIE: How many kids are in the lab? Eric, and Sandy, and you...

CINDY: Seems like there was 17 to 25. Most of the time. Sometimes it changed. Some left. Some came. Some came just during the day, and then left. It depends.

STANLEY: Where did they go?

CINDY: Some died that were there.

SYLVIE: They died?

CINDY: (NOD) They put us in a little box sometimes. First they measure your muscle density. Put you in the box. And then they measure it again when you come out.

STANLEY: How long were you in the box?

CINDY: Don’t know. Days. A week. When you come out you’re so stiff you can’t move.

SYLVIE: What did the box do?

CINDY: The box didn't do anything.

STANLEY: Did you ever get any visitors?

CINDY: Sometimes. There was a little chubby redhaired girl who came from Michigan. She wore a nice dress. Nicer than mine. She would talk to us when she came in but she wouldn't talk when she left. Almost like they switched off something in her head. She just looked straight ahead with a look on her face that was scary.

We were "the residents." We had clothes. And sometimes we wore tunics ... but only if someone was coming to see us.

They tried to keep us separate from the other ones. The visitors from far away.

RUTH: And the scientists and doctors? What did they wear?

CINDY: White jackets. There was a doctor we called Mr. Pimple. Cause around here (TOUCHES FOREHEAD) he had pimples. He had a beard. We had pet names for them all, ‘cause we couldn't remember and we weren't told. They didn't really introduce themselves too much.

There was one man who really liked to talk. He would ask all sorts of questions about how I felt when I was alone, and if I missed people, and he would have somebody with him who would hug me, and then he'd ask me what I felt right after I was hugged. And it didn't feel that good because it was … empty. So, they stopped that, at least with me.

They didn't touch us badly. But we heard stories from the older kids. So they stopped letting us get together. So I was just supposed to change from my group to the other group. And I made sure that I wouldn't.

STANLEY: What did you do?

(Silence. Turns her wrists outward.)

RUTH: You slit your wrists?

(Nods)

SYLVIE: Cindy, would you like to see your mother and father?

CINDY: I don't know my father.

SYLVIE: Well, I'm sure he's waiting for you. And all your friends. Everybody's waiting for you.

CINDY: Why?

SYLVIE: Because there's life after death. You don't have to be alone anymore. You can go there and see them. You don't have to stay around in the dark.

CINDY: So the light's behind that lady?

STANLEY: Cover your eyes and you will know where the light is. And when you get there...

CINDY: Lady, can you move please?

STANLEY: You want to see the candle? (REACHES OVER, MOVES CANDLE). And the light that you're going to go to is just like that candlelight. Soft... And they're all going to be very happy to see you.

RUTH: Hugs, there'll be so many wonderful hugs. Warm hugs...

CINDY: I see them! It's my group. And Brian!

SLOWLY SHE STANDS UP, WALKS TOWARD THE LIGHT AND DISAPPEARS.

STANLEY: There you go!

ALL: Bye! Bye Cindy!

*******

Lights come up on ISABEL sitting strapped into a chair with electrodes attached to her head and arms.

RUTH (TO STANLEY): That must be Isabel.

ISABEL: Quiet, we whisper here.

SYLVIE: Are you hiding?

ISABEL: I’m not hiding. We just whisper all the time.

SYLVIE: Why?

ISABEL: Trust me ... and I have to pee again

SYLVIE: Just relax, you’re safe here with us.

ISABEL: If they hear us talking I’ll be in trouble!

SYLVIE: Not now, you’re here with us. It’s safe, you’re safe here. You can speak a bit louder.

ISABEL: I have to pee again, I have to pee. I don’t want to pee again.

SYLVIE: What is your name?

ISABEL: Isabel.

SYLVIE: Hi Isabel. I'm Sylvie.

ISABEL: Who are you?

STANLEY: (hesitates) We’re your friends.

RUTH: Isabel, you can go to the bathroom. You’re safe with us. We even have a bathroom here!

STANLEY: A secret bathroom and an angel who can open it, you can go --

RUTH: You’re safe.

CARLOS: Because we’re from the future.

SYLVIE: Your friends can pee too. You’re all safe now.

ISABEL: How come I’m safe here? Aren’t they going to come and check on me?

SYLVIE: Those doctors are not here anymore. And neither are you. That was a long time ago.

ISABEL: You're from The future?

STANLEY: Decades from where you are.

RUTH. You’re free now.

ISABEL: I don’t want to be free. I’m staying right here.

STANLEY: All this happened to you in the past.

ISABEL: You don’t try and get away from here!

STANLEY: Would you like to tell us about where you are?

ISABEL: No.

STANLEY: Why not?

ISABEL: Because I don’t know you.

RUTH: How old are you, Isabel?

ISABEL: Fourteen.

RUTH: A big girl.

ISABEL: Not that big!

STANLEY: Do you remember your last name?

ISABEL: Williams

STANLEY: Do you know where you come from?

ISABEL: Out in the country

SYLVIE: Are you white?

ISABEL: No, I’m pink.

RUTH: Because you’re blonde.

ISABEL: Dirty blonde.

STANLEY: Was it in Canada?

ISABEL: Yes

STANLEY: Quebec?

ISABEL: Yes.

STANLEY: Near Montreal?

ISABEL: Yes.

STANLEY: Do you know the place...?

ISABEL: Verdun.

RUTH: Do you remember what year...

ISABEL: I was born in 1946.

STANLEY: And you’re 14 so must be 1960 where you are. And we’re in 2023.

ISABEL: We don’t have too many calendars here.

SYLVIE: Do you know what place you’re in?

ISABEL: We’re underground now -- that’s why we don’t try and go out.

STANLEY: Can you tell us who else is there?

ISABEL: Esther.

STANLEY: Is Esther your friend?

ISABEL: Yes. Esther and I found a way we could communicate and nobody can hear us. We use our fingers in different combinations.

SYLVIE: Tapping?

ISABEL: No, different combinations and positions of the fingers are different letters of the alphabet.

RUTH: Is there anyone else there beside you and Esther?

ISABEL: Yes . But we don’t talk too much. We’re not allowed because they’re scared that we’ll tell the others what happens to us and then they’re not going to want to cooperate…

SYLVIE: The others are younger than you?

ISABEL: No, not all of them. We try and take care of the little ones.

SYLVIE: Are there many older kids?

ISABEL: Well after a certain age they sort of ... disappear.

SYLVIE: They go away?

ISABEL: They go away.

SYLVIE: So you’re one of the older ones?

RUTH: And you’re scared you’re going to disappear?

ISABEL: Maybe disappearing is a good thing. I don’t like sitting in this chair.

STANLEY: Can you help us to find that place where you are? Can you look out a window?

ISABEL: No.

STANLEY: When you arrived at the place, were you around a mountain or a hill?

ISABEL: We had trouble getting up the hill, the car kept slipping gears.

STANLEY: Was it in the city or the country?

ISABEL: It’s not the country. But there is a place like this near where I used to live... in Verdun.

STANLEY: Like a hospital? A mental hospital?

ISABEL: What’s a mental hospital?

STANLEY: A big building where people stay and everybody wears white...

ISABEL: Yeah.

STANLEY: How big a place was it?

ISABEL: I remember an emblem, it looked like the royal emblem like the Queen’s emblem

STANLEY: A crown?

ISABEL: A crown with letters underneath it and two lions. I asked them if it was a female lion and a male lion or if they were both the same.

RUTH: What did they say?

ISABEL: They laughed…

RUTH: How long have you been there?

ISABEL: Don’t know.

SYLVIE: A few weeks a few months a few years?

ISABEL: Don’t know

SYLVIE: You’re there full time, days and nights, you don’t go out?

ISABEL: We have people who take care of us.

CARLOS: What do these people look like?

ISABEL: They change. Sometimes we see them for a week. We can count seven days so we know it’s a week but then we lost track because they found the paper we were making the marks on. They go away and other people come. Some are nicer than others. One lady used to bring us little chocolates. She doesn’t come back any more.

STANLEY: How old were you when you got there?

ISABEL: Can we talk about something else?

STANLEY: Do you remember your parents?

ISABEL: Yes.

STANLEY: Did your parents bring you to this place?

ISABEL: No.

STANLEY: Did your parents say goodbye to you when you left?

ISABEL: Yes.

STANLEY: And what did they tell you?

ISABEL: They said I should be nice and I would be coming home soon and I should do whatever they tell me to do

STANLEY: Do you have any brothers and sisters?

ISABEL: Yes . A brother.

SYLVIE: Did he come there too?

ISABEL: No. He’s not ... “fit”

SYLVIE: What does that mean?

ISABEL: I’d rather just say he’s not “fit.”

CARLOS: Who’s that little blond boy that I saw a few minutes ago? He’s a smart one!

JIMMY RUNS BEHIND HER, PLAYING HOPSCOTCH...

There once was a doctor from Stirling

Whose crimes are slowly unfurling

He thought was God

That demonic fraud

Fried brains and set them a-twirling

ISABEL: Jimmy. I like Jimmy. He’s hard to catch cause he’s small. And there's Billy.

CARLOS: How old is Billy?

ISABEL: Twelve but he’s big for his age

RUTH: You have a crush on him!

ISABEL: Billy found the passageway, that’s why he’s not allowed out of his room now.

RUTH: Do you see Billy now?

ISABEL: No. We just sit and we sit and all we hear is the little buzz...

RUTH: A little buzz??

ISABEL: And when we have to pee all we do is we pee. I hate peeing like that, I don’t like messing myself.

SYLVIE: Do you play with animals sometimes?

ISABEL: We have “interaction.” We’re told how we’re supposed to approach the animals, sometimes its good and sometimes it’s not so good…

SYLVIE: So you see them for exercise?

ISABEL: Mm hmm

STANLEY: What kind of animals?

ISABEL: Dogs, cats and a hamster. I like the hamster.

SYLVIE: Are there men, doctors who come?

ISABEL. (nods) Whitecoats.

SYLVIE: More than one?

ISABEL: Yes.

STANLEY: I guess you don’t know their names...

ISABEL: There’s one called Dr. Quint. He wore his badge in once with his name on it. He never did that again!

SYLVIE: Do you want to play a game with us, something special?

RUTH: And Esther can play too.

ISABEL: She’s not in the room.

STANLEY: Maybe you can help us understand what was going on back then ...

ISABEL: (getting upset) I’m answering the questions, what else to you what me to do? I’m cooperating!

RUTH: Yes you are -- you’re wonderful!

ISABEL: I don’t want to get caught and locked up!

SYLVIE: You’re a free spirit now. but you’re still trapped.

SYLVIE: Would you like to leave your body, where you are, and get out of there?

ISABEL: I already told you No!

STANLEY: What would you like to do right now?

ISABEL: Get Billy out of the room!

STANLEY: Who’s Billy?

ISABEL: Billy, why Billy, Billy Billy Billy Billy.

STANLEY: Is he there with you?

ISABEL: You’re confusing me!!

RUTH: We don’t mean to confuse you. We’re just trying to help you.

ISABEL: That’s what they do, they confuse you, they ask you questions and you slip up and they ask you why you slipped up!

RUTH: They’re not asking you questions now

ISABEL: No -- you’re asking questions!

STANLEY: Would you like to go down a secret hallway and not get caught?

ISABEL: And not get caught?

STANLEY: And not get caught.

ISABEL: Yeah.

SYLVIE: We could do that with you. We can show you the way out of this laboratory and into the Light.

STANLEY HOLDS UP THE CANDLE.

STANLEY: Your friends are down toward that light, Isabel... Why don’t you go to them?

SYLVIE: We love you Isabel...

STANLEY: Go to them – they’re waiting...

ISABEL: Stop the voices!!!

SHOCKED SILENCE.

RUTH: Isabel, you can send the voices away.

STANLEY: Isabel, look at the light. Do you see your mother and father?

ISABEL: Yes...

STANLEY: They’re so happy to see you.

I’m sure they’re waiting for you to come to the light.

ISABEL: My brother’s there too…

STANLEY: Yes. Go see them.

LIGHT GROWS BRIGHTER.

ISABEL: Only if you get Billy out of the room –

HARLEY: We will. We promise.

JIMMY RUNS ACROSS THE STAGE FROM RIGHT TO LEFT.

JIMMY: Billy and Isabel made a pact that they would leave together. Billy tried to get them out twice. The first time he was put in his room. The second time they sent him somewhere. Find Billy. I promised Isabel I’d find Billy.

STANLEY: All right. Let’s go back to the entrance.

GROUP RE-FOCUSES, DEEP BREATHING.

HARLEY: As I enter in the building I’m walking straight ahead There’s something in the middle of the entrance. I have to walk around it.

STANLEY: A barrel? A table.

HARLEY: On the right hand side, there’s a window with a desk. And then three doors. Does anybody see these three doors? I have to go through one of these doors. Or do I walk further down the hall?

RUTH: Middle door. Try the middle door.

CARLOS: First one on the right.

HARLEY: How about the staircase?

RUTH: No.

HARLEY: Wrong door, wrong door. Got a staircase in there.

RUTH: No, the other one on the right.

HARLEY: With my back to the front door?

RUTH: Yes.

HARLEY: There’s two desks, but there seems to be a corridor. I’m walking down the corridor, four doors. The windows on these doors seem to be smaller and there’s no light behind them shining through.

JIMMY: The files are in the basement. You saw the stairs.

HARLEY: So, who wants to go?

GROUP: You go.

HARLEY: Someone come with me because to tell the truth I don’t feel that good about going alone!

CARLOS: We’ll be right behind you.

HARLEY: Thanks.

SYLVIE: What do you see?

HARLEY: It smells down here.

SYLVIE: Is there a big corridor, many rooms, many doors?

HARLEY: A narrow path. Filing cabinets.

SYLVIE: Heating ducts? Water flowing?

HARLEY: No -- just files!

SYLVIE: Files! We like files. Can you see what’s in the files?

HARLEY: There’s lots of paper! What do you want me to look for?

SYLVIE: Files for Billy, or Isabel or maybe you?

HARLEY: My files??? I hope not!

SYLVIE: Well, look for Billy’s.

HARLEY: (SHUFFLING FOLDERS, PULLING UP DOCUMENTS) “William Christopher Jones?”

STANLEY: Keep reading...

HARLEY: “5’6” 97 pounds. Physical structure B3. Age 12. Low pulse. Able to hold his breath for long time. Heart murmur, left C1, vision 20/20. Slight limp. Possible TB type 3.”

File has about 16 pages in it in handwriting that I can’t really read too much but if I pick up the vibration there seems to be some psychological aspects to his profile that cause him to be a little disruptive.

“He is a survivor, when put into test situations he was able to overcome the barriers that were put up. Intelligence rating 179. If properly trained, logic 10 out of 12, rationality 100%. Will only be violent if penned up. Suggested treatment and observation of shock 30 MZ, 4 seconds. Observations: change of breathing pattern, constantly licking lips to bring moisture, after 3 hours convulsions subsided and scheduled 9 am tomorrow morning.”

STANLEY: Do you see a signature? A doctor?

HARLEY: It’s coded. They didn’t sign, they used numbers,

SYLVIE: Any address where the boy lived?

HARLEY: I’ve got to turn the pages back. (TURNS PAGES) “2765 Notre Dame St Henri. Father’s occupation shoe factory, mother seamstress, 41, 39. Mother’s history: 2 children early death one with tuberculosis, other one cause unknown. FATHER’S physical condition A 2. “ There’s a notation, about surgery, due to an accident.

SYLVIE: For the father?

HARLEY: Yes. ” Frontal impact causing delusion and severe migraines.” There’s a number 7 beside that, seems to be some sort of scale. “No other living children.” Anything else you want to know? Because I’m really getting spooked in here and unless you want me to find something or somebody else I’d really like to get out of here.

STANLEY: Come out then. That’s pretty thorough. That’s a lot.

HARLEY: The initials MZ show up a lot.

STANLEY: On his file?

HARLEY: Looking through it, I don’t know if it’s some classification, some code but it seems to show up a lot.

SYLVIE: Do you think it’s a name or a procedure?

HARLEY: To me, it’s some sort of code or some initial.

STANLEY: Megahertz? Electroshock.

HARLEY: By the way, there have been 3 porters who have been dismissed from here in the past month and they’re having a hard time finding staff to work here now, rumour has it that they’re going to pull out.

STANLEY: Who’s going to pull out, the military?

HARLEY: The project. It might come back in another incarnation but this one can’t keep up this way. There’s a file here says they’re going to bring in kids for a couple of hours a day and let them go home, like outpatients. The experimentation is going to be a lot lighter than what they’ve done up to now and they are going to start treatments, chemical treatments.

RUTH: Drugs.

HARLEY: They’re -- in here they’re saying they have the capacity of taking up 12 to 15 children at a time. There will be evening and weekend sessions. Now what they’re interested in is the interaction of these children with other children in the school. These children will be coming from the school place. They will be sending out psychologists to test children in schools and see who would be likely candidates to have this training. They’re going to be calling it, I can’t read that: “coordination.” They’re going to be using children that are problem children in school and with the excuse that they are going to be using is they are going to be helping them to adjust so that when they finish these sessions they will be more adaptable into the school system.

There is a note in here that says they did go to the Catholic school commission and that this project was refused. The Protestant school board did accept this. They will go into a deeper cover than what they were in before because of the necessity of dealing with the public. They will be drawing conclusions based on the experimentation that was done in the first part of this project, and they will be using the basis of that experimentation in order to try to condition these children better to make them follow what is an the acceptable norm. The acceptable norm for some, for the control group will be “Yes, you can study, you can learn, you can behave yourself in school” and they will be returned to the school and they will be followed for the next 4 to 5 years to watch their development and see if this project has had an effect on them.

There are others who will not be returned to the school in the same way, some will go on for further training and be used to do ... messages. Others will be --- will be....

I can’t read the rest.

SYLVIE: Is it blacked out or just the letters are not clear or does it just end?

HARLEY: I don’t know. I don’t know. I am sort of getting weak.

RUTH: OK . Time to go.

HARLEY: Just let me take one more look around here. Oh! On the wall there’s a picture of six men in white coats. You want to meet the doctors?

FIVE DOCTORS IN WHITE JACKETS, MILITARY MEN, AND DR. RUTH– THEY ARRANGE THEMSELVES SIDE BY SIDE, AS IF STANDING FOR A PHOTO.

HARLEY: There’s a Chinese doctor. The names aren’t there that I can see, they may have been added later but at this time when the picture was taken they’re not there.

There’s a short man, wide shouldered, blackish grey hair, glasses.

And there’s a woman.

RUTH: She’s not Canadian is she?

HARLEY: She looks very British but it’s more just how she has made herself up to be, and her shoes are weird, I have never seen shoes like that before, you know the old type that button up the side, she has a mark on her hand, right here.

RUTH: Birthmark?

No it’s an injury. I don’t know if she had her hand crushed and when she writes she writes like this And there’s something happening to a child in her family at the present time. The time, wherever I am. In 1960.

I’m getting Russia. I’m seeing a coat with long, buttons all the way down the front, double breasted. I think experiments, lots were going on there, I see snow, I see very wide steps, a very large building, very big square stones and very wide stairs where there are railings not just two on the side, more railings, going on, I got the word “government” -- whoever, someone wore that coat, it’s like an army green. Drab green and brass buttons wool coat.

Ok let’s move on. We have Doctor Quint here, a very dapper dresser. I don’t know why this is so important but he has no hair on his hands, he has hair everywhere else but not on his hands. Oh, he’s the surgeon! Imagine him standing in front of you.

RUTH: Cold, very cold. A lot of cold air around him maybe he’s here. I feel his hands are very wide, short fingers wide hands. Then my hands are vibrating.

HARLEY: Are you scared of him?

RUTH: I think so.

HARLEY: Why would you be scared of him?

RUTH: He’s a mean person. I just feel he was totally disconnected, had no empathy, no, just cold, no feelings for these children.

HARLEY: Was he doing a job or was he out to make a name for himself?

RUTH: I’m not sure, I just know whatever happened did not bother him at all. They weren’t human to him. They were like animals. They were like subject for tests.

HARLEY: We still have to find Billy…

HARLEY: There’s numbers and a plate on the door, and initials on a piece of paper on the plate. .. There’s I.W.

SYLVIE: Isabel Williams.

HARLEY: There’s B.E.

SYLVIE: Brian... Billy…

HARLEY: Nothing on this door.

STANLEY: Are there doors across on the other side?

HARLEY: Yes.

STANLEY: Look there.

HARLEY: R.I.... S.T. ... Nothing on this door.

SYLVIE: Can you look inside?

HARLEY: I can’t open it, but I can go through it.

CARLOS: Go through it.

HARLEY: Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! (Breathing hard).

RUTH: It’s ok... What is it?

HARLEY: I’ve never seen anybody look like this, the eyes are open. He’s breathing -- first thing I checked, he’s breathing. The eyes, they’re empty. I touch him, he’s cold. Shock. He’s in shock.

SYLVIE: Is that Billy?

HARLEY: I don’t know.

RUTH: Relax, you can’t get hurt. You’re out of body. No one can hurt you.

HARLEY: I want to hug him.

RUTH: Hug him. It will make him feel a lot better. Light energy. Bring him some light energy.

SYLVIE: There’ s light in the room. Do you see the light?

HARLEY: No not yet! Don’t do this. I don’t want to send him away to the light.

RUTH: It’s warm light, OK? Just warm light energy to warm him up. So he can breathe slowly too and feel safe. White light is safe

HARLEY: Billy, B- i- l- l- y (singing)

SYLVIE: Talk to us, Billy!

HARLEY: His mind is not working. He’s in there but he’s not. His spirit is crouching in the corner of the room.

RUTH: Can you help him?

HARLEY: I can try. He needs to go back inside his body. It’s the only way to get him out of this room.

RUTH: Just tell him that then. He can get out of the room without going back in his body.

HARLEY: I know that. He doesn’t know that. I got to get them back together. Give me some time.

GROUP: OK.

HARLEY: Make sure nobody comes down the hall.

ALL: Okay!

ENTER JIMMY (still wearing Johnny shirt)

JIMMY: What time is it?

HARLEY (SPEAKING AS BILLY): It’s 7:35.

JIMMY: OK. Quarter to eight we can get out of here. Don’t worry. They’ve never changed their schedule. Seven forty-five to 8:15, they’re having their supper. I’ll show you the way to the hall. Once we’re in the hall, there’s stairs that go to the entrance.

HARLEY: We can get out, but promise you’ll take me to Isabel -- she can’t stay alone, she’s too scared.

JIMMY: What time is it now?

HARLEY: Seven forty-five.

JIMMY: OK. I know I’m breathing funny -- I can’t breathe any other way. OK now take a look at the bottom of that chair. There’s a glider. Take it out of the chair, it slips right out. OK give me that key.

(USES KEY TO OPEN DOOR WIDE. STANDS BACK.) OK you have a choice. You either stay here or you come with me but I can’t wait, you got to make up your mind now.

HARLEY: OK thank you, thank you. OK OK OK Bye.

RUTH: You’re not going too?

JIMMY: No I don’t go there.

RUTH: Why don’t you go out with Billy?

JIMMY: Because I like living!

RUTH: You’re in your room?

JIMMY: I’ll come out soon.

HARLEY: Okay everybody. Try and follow Billy as he goes down the hallway. He might still need us.

SYLVIE: I see him. He’s following the light down the corridor.

HARLEY: I can’t see. You follow him.

SYLVIE: OK. I think he’s okay. He’s leaving the building. I think he escaped.

RUTH: He knows how to find the way out.

HARLEY: Billy’s okay, he can take care of himself. Did anyone else see anything else?

RUTH: There’s another one right behind you.

A LOUD SCREAM.

THE CHILDREN AND VISITORS VANISH.

LIGHTS COME UP ON A CRIME SCENE. YELLOW DANGER TAPE CRISSCROSSES THE STAGE.

MEN WITH SHOVELS AND FLASHLIGHTS ENTER AND START DIGGING. A SIREN SOUNDS. THE MEN EXIT.

PEOPLE IN YELLOW VESTS ARRIVE WITH SNIFFER DOGS.

THE DOGS RUSH THE AUDIENCE, SNIFFING UNDER SEATS. THE FLASHLIGHTS FOLLOE THEM. THEY ARE CADAVER DOGS PROWLING THE GRAVEYARD FOR HUMAN REMAINS, BITS OF CLOTHING. A CHILD'S SHOE.

SUDDENLY THE DOGS REACT: BARKING AND PULLING AT THEIR LEASH. HOWLING.

A team of archaeologists from the year 2023 are collecting soil samples and speaking to the press. With them come the Mohawk Mothers.

LANA, AN ELDERLY WOMAN, PUSHES HER WALKER INTO THE CENTRE OF THE CROWD AND ADDRESSES THE AUDIENCE.

LANA: Yes I was 16 years old on 1958 when I ran away from home. They locked me up in here. I saw children running around the hospital, some as young as 5. Dr Cameron gave us Kool-aid laced wirh LSD. I made friends with a beautiful indigenous girl named Morningstar. She came from far away. They would electroshock her so she would forget from one day to the next. One day she was just gone.

I remember one night I snuck out. I saw people with shovels. I remember them because they had red handles. They were digging. I firmly believe there are bodies on the property of the Allan Memorial Institute.

We the kahnistensera of Kahnawake are here to locate our missing children.

“It has to be proven to our satisfaction that there are no bones or bodies in unmarked graves, so we want to declare this a crime scene. The entire McGill University is a crime scene.

“We want this investigated before anything is done at this place. … Our main concern is our children, who are crying for us. We can hear them, and feel them. We know they want the story about what happened to them to be revealed.”

A NATIVE MAN ENTERS HOLDING A DRUM. HE DRUMS SLOWLY FOR A FEW BREATHS.

We are here to teach you the Great Law of Peace."

The smell of sacred tobacco fills the theater as the Mohawk elder performs a ceremony in honor of missing children.

The drumming gets louder as the light keeps getting brighter.

THE LIGHTS GO OUT.

APPLAUSE…